Welsh Journals

THE FOUNDER OF THE PORT OF CONNAH'S QUAY? By G. I. HAWKES The identity of the Connah after whom the port of Connah's Quay was named appears to be shrouded in mystery. One explanation often heard, portrays him as an Irishman, landlord of the Quay House, and a smuggler. He has also been variously described as a ship's chandler, harbour master, captain, merchant, coal company merchant, distillers' agent and a Buckley earthenware agent. Folklore has also associated him with Pen-y-Llan Rock steps, cave and pool, also with the marsh near the haunted Edmond's Hollow, where Connah is said to have lured the revenue officer, Edmond, to his death. Connah's Railway was the name given to the tramway cutting below Broad Oak Farm. This note provides possible clues to the identity of the town's founder. Connahs had lived in Hawarden parish since the sixteenth century, but William and Margaret were the first Connahs in 1704 to reside in Wepre and Golftyn.2 Their grandson James married Grace, daughter of Jonathan Catherall, the Buckley earthenware manufacturer, in 1757.3 At his death in 1787 he was recorded as a fisherman.4 Of his eight children, James the eldest (born 1766), and George the youngest (born 1778), appear most frequently in the records. James was a juror at the Flintshire Quarter Sessions in 1788, and collector of the land tax at Golftyn in 1789, and died five years later, but his occupation has not been noted.5 In January 1798, his brother, George, married Ann, daughter of William Piercey of Wepre Hall, a farmer with the largest tenancy on Lord Plymouth's estate.6 Unfortunately, his life was short, eventful and tragic. Ann Connah died a month after bearing their son, James, in September 1798, but the baby died in April 1799 and was buried at Hawarden when George Connah was noted in the 1 Clwyd Record Office (CRO) D/GL/33; also 'A Short Survey of Merchant Shipping' (Shotton High School project); T. Coppack, A Lifetime with Ships (1973); Liverpool Daily Post, 28 December 1976; Chester Chronicle, 3 December 1976; CRO NC/288, 585. 2 CRO Northop parish register (NPR), 2 November 1704. 3 CRO Hawarden parish register (HPR), 23 April 1757. 1 NPR 25 August 1787. 5 National Library of Wales (NLW) Wales 4/1011/2; 1012/8; Public Record Office (PRO) E182/1241 Part 1, NPR 16 December 1794. According to Mr Tom Coppack, a senior partner of Coppack Bros, shippers and brokers, whom I interviewed several times, Connah was always referred to as 'Jimmy' in the Coppack family. 6 NPR 29 January 1798, 25 July 1779; Staffordshire Record Office D641/E/(R)/1/1.